Maxtor Corporation

Seagate Technology Incorporated

Maxter Corporation

Quinn Jay Haddock

Patrick R Wacker

Gary Joseph Kunkel

Michael McNeil

Richard Edward Martin

Carolyn R Girvin

Erhard Theodor Schreck

Bruce D Emo

John L Brand

Anil Junuthula Reddy

Robert Dean Turner

Curtis W Egan

Davide Guarisco

ChengYi Guo

Clifford Jayson Bringas Camalig

Andrew Frenz

Douglas J Krajnovich

Mui Chong Chai

Matthew Aaron Carper

Marsha Anne Huha

David A Olivero

Ying Dong

Gan Swee Chuan

Daniel Robert Ohlsen

Yue Ma

Ki Myung Lee

Genevieve Himle

KangHai Lim

An apparatus and associated method for enclosing an environment-sensitive component. An enclosure separates an interior environment inside the enclosure from an external environment outside the enclosure. The enclosure has an environmental control system that captures a contaminant from the internal environment to a filter via a first diffusion path, and captures the contaminant from the external environment to the same filter via a different second diffusion path, the diffusion paths providing substantially different flow resistances to fluids carrying the contaminants to the filter via the respective diffusion paths.

Dual diffusion path filtering

The disclosed technology provides for a method and system comprising determining a write-encroachment threshold of a recording medium, determining a track as off-track and one or more tracks substantially near the off-track as unwriteable, flagging the one or more tracks substantially near the off-track track, and writing write data for the one or more flagged tracks to a media cache. In a recovery process, the write data can be later transferred back to the flagged tracks.

Write encroachment mitigation system

The disclosed technology provides for a method and system comprising determining a write-encroachment threshold of a recording medium as a percentage of cross-track width of tracks in the recording medium, determining a track as off-track based on a position error signal level for the track exceeding the write-encroachment threshold, flagging one or more tracks substantially near the off-track, and writing write data for the one or more flagged tracks to a media cache. In a recovery process, the write data can be later transferred back to the flagged tracks.

Method and apparatus for verifying and controlling a clearance distance of an object, such as but not limited to a fly height of a read/write transducer adjacent a recording medium in a data storage device. In accordance with some embodiments, a sensor is used to sense a plurality of patterns from an adjacent surface, with each pattern being written at a different constant frequency. A final clearance distance between the sensor and the surface is established in response to a multi-frequency response ratio from the sensor and a single frequency response ratio from the sensor.

Clearance distance verification and control

Testing and compensating for fly height of a head in a storage device during settling time using a head for use on a storage medium and a processor to idle the head for an idle time, unload the head from idle, and compensate for any unsettled fly height of the head using the idle time and at least a pre-determined clearance settling function over time from idle.

Head fly height testing and compensation

In a disc drive, a slider having electronic communication with the surface of a data disc, the slider having a first up-track mill transition that has a transition mill to remove oblique mill transitions so that the transition has a substantially perpendicular portion that impacts contaminant particles on or near the disc surface. In other embodiments, other edges of the slider have transition mills to remove oblique transition mills from possible impact with such particles.

Slider with improved robustness to particle contact

An apparatus includes a slider body having a leading edge and an opposite trailing edge, as well as a top face and a bottom face each extending between the leading edge and the trailing edge. The slider body further includes a plurality of protrusions extending from the bottom face, a first recess defined on one of the protrusions, and a sacrificial layer deposited on the slider body in the recess. A bottom surface of the sacrificial layer extends at least as far from the bottom face as bottom surfaces of the plurality of protrusions. In another aspect, a first blocking feature is located at a first uptrack edge on an air bearing surface of a slider, with the first blocking feature being substantially continuous along the first uptrack edge and protruding outwardly from the air bearing surface to reduce particle interaction with the air bearing surface.

Material deposition on transducing head

The invention is generally directed to a slider that is particularly suited for dynamic load/unload disk drive designs. This slider desirably addresses potential disk damage associated with contact between sharp edges of the slider of the disk drive and the data storage surface of a corresponding disk. Any appropriate type/configuration of a disk drive may benefit from performing read/write operations utilizing the slider of the present invention. Generally, this slider includes at least one air bearing surface which enables the slider to 'fly' above the read/write surface of the disk, and at least one self-blending contact pad disposed on the lower surface of the slider to reduce the potential for contact between any portion of the slider other than the self-blending contact pad(s) and the corresponding read/write surface of the disk.

Flying-type disk drive slider with self-blending contact pad

A slider (') with a reduced fly height is disclosed. The slider includes a small micropad () on the lower surface (&#x2032;) of the slider (&#x2032;). A sensor region () of a head () that is carried by the slider (&#x2032;) protrudes into the micropad (). The fluid pressure acting on an air bearing surface system () on the lower surface (&#x2032;) of the slider (&#x2032;) is insufficient to dispose the entire lower surface (&#x2032;) of the slider (&#x2032;) in spaced relation to its corresponding disk () during the initial portion of the very first operation of the disk drive. The micropad () is thereby burnished, and continues to burnish until the air bearing surface system () assumes a position relative to the disk () that allows the fluid pressure acting on the air bearing surface system () to dispose the entire lower surface (&#x2032;) of the slider (&#x2032;) in spaced relation to the disk ().

Flying-type disk drive slider with micropad

A slider for a disk drive is disclosed. In one embodiment, the slider includes an air bearing pad that contains a read/write transducer. This particular air bearing pad is small. High pressures are exerted on this small air bearing pad while the slider is flying in vertically spaced to its corresponding data storage disk. Pressures in excess of 500 psi may exist on this air bearing pad. In any case, this air bearing pad provides a significant portion of the total lifting forces for flying the slider in vertically spaced relation to its corresponding data storage disk or the like. As such, any expansion of the air bearing pad toward the data storage disk during read/write operations does not result in any significant loss of fly height.

Method for flying a disk drive slider having a high pressure micropad ABS

Disk drive preconditioning allows the head-disk interface to be burnished or worn so that head-disk interference is reduced or eliminated before servo track writing. The head is positioned closer to the disk than the normal fly height during a preconditioning sweep and then returns to the normal fly height during servo track writing.

Head-disk interface preconditioning using write current before servo track write

Tools are provided to identify undesired pole tip protrusion (PTP) on a write portion of a read/write head in a hard disk. Such tools may be incorporated in the hard disk. A corrective action arrangement performs a corrective action in response to the identification of an undesired pole tip protrusion. The corrective action may comprise burnishing of pole tips of a write portion of the read/write head. An asperity read signal condition monitoring circuit monitors asperity conditions from the read signal. The asperity condition may be a high fly write condition, or it may be a thermal asperity condition. A PTP determining circuit determines when a monitored condition is indicative of an undesired PTP condition. A PTP test write cycle may be caused, during which the monitoring circuit monitors either during or right after the PTP test write cycle.

Monitoring of phenomena indicative of PTP in a hard disk and controlling the burnishing of heads

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for recovering data in a disk drive following a read error. At least a portion of the actuator arm tip is heated. Thermal expansion reduces the read-head-to-disk spacing, increasing the likelihood of success when a re-read of the data is attempted. In one approach, a heater is operatively coupled to the tip. In one aspect, a write head is provided with write current in order to heat the tip. Data which may be modified or overwritten when providing write current to the write head is preferably read and buffered prior to the write operation, for later re-writing to the disk.

Read error recovery method and apparatus

A hard disk is provided with tools for limiting the duty cycle (a group of variations of load with time). The write current is controlled by, e.g., limiting the duration of a given write cycle. The write cycle may involve writing data continuously along adjacent portions of the disk media (e.g., writing of data in adjacent segments of a track in the outer diameter (OD) region of a platter), with an intermittent duty write current.

Growing community of inventors

Longmont, CO, United States of America

Quinn Jay Haddock